Two years ago Brady got a new yellow rope swing with a disc seat.  The swing now hangs from a branch on one of our trees with newly emerging leaves in our backyard.  This swing keeps catching my eye as I walk past my kitchen window.  It hangs alone, but it is always rhythmically moving back and forth even when I cannot see or feel wind outside.  It steadily follows its arc shaped path back and forth.  At times it will pick up speed for some reason out of the blue, and the arc becomes larger briefly until it settles back into its typical path.  On obviously windy days, it gets blown in every direction, but eventually it will return to its soft back and forth motion.  

What fascinates me about this swing lately is its steady movement.  I often ask myself, “what is making it move today?”

As things often go in life, an unexpected item has become my teacher.  This swing and its movement remind me of God’s work in my life.  God is always there, even when I cannot obviously see or feel his presence.  God moves us, just as this swing is being moved by something.  God is this unseen force in our lives that often moves the interior of our hearts.  How often, I am like the swing.  I am suddenly moving in a way that I acknowledge I have no control over– it is from something bigger than I am.

God’s work in our lives is so often like that force that I cannot feel that is moving our swing right now as I type.  A soft, gentle presence that occasionally picks up speed and blows forcefully when we need a reminder to once again return to our natural, true rhythm or path in life. 

God is alive and present in our lives– right now!  God is moving us and moving in us.
Are we aware of God’s presence in our lives?
Are we being moved in ways that is from something other than ourselves?

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.